Overheating TDI...Headgasket blown

[Williamtaylor33]

Ok folks...I've had alittle overheating problem.
The coolant system was building alot of pressure when cold so i just pulled the head.
Heres what i've found....
The headgasket was blown between the 3rd and 4th cylinder.
The head is warped .009 mm.
And the water pump is good.
Notice some slight scoring on the cylinder walls.
Heres some pictures i took.

this is a 1 hole gasket correct? (meaning the thinnest)

So the head is off. What should i be looking for now?
This is the same van and engine from this thread.
http://www.vwdiesel.net/forum/index.php?topic=22666.0

My main guess was that a failed waterpump is what caused this to begin with but now i'm back to square one. The cooling system is different on this van as it has an extra radiator installed in place of a spare tire. I'm thinking an maybe there was an air pocket that found its way back to the engine. Which caused the overheating..which caused the headgasket failure.
Another piece of info is that the coolant bottle threads are messed up meaning the coolant couldnt build pressure.
While i got this one out should i go ahead and replace the plastic impeller'd water pump with a metal one?
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89 Bostig powered syncro westy

[80qtdi]

Wow what an ordeal, if I were to guess about the head gasket being blown, I'd guess that the pump timing being off could damage the gasket, then the combustion gasses made it overheat.

When you reassemble what head fastners are you planning on using?

Jon
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1982 Westfalia Diesel W/ AHU TDI
K03/04 Hybrid turbo, 11mm injection pump, Audi 2.7T oil heat exchanger, .216 T4 nozzles, Speed density VWMikel tune, PD130 intake manifold, & AWIC

[Williamtaylor33]

[jackbombay]

[AndyBees]

Based on the first post in the link you provided, I'm thinking the leaky coolant was the culprit all along!

Were you having to add coolant?
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI. 1989 Tin-top
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine. Seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003.

[Williamtaylor33]

[Williamtaylor33]

[SyncroGhia]

In my experience, over advanced pump timing can result in over stressed valve gear. I've seen 2 engines go bang as a result of the timing being way over advanced and it was the followers which crack up, break into pieces, wipe out the cam, head and the swarf does the rest.

Fingers crossed it's just the head gasket and you'll be ok with a new water pump. You shouldn't need more than a stock radiator up front. I'm running a 2.5TDi with a stock radiator and petrol fan and floor (i.e. it was a 2.1 van) so it doesn't even have the added bonus of the raised TD floor.

I'd go with a 3 notch head gasket and replace the thermostat while you're in there. Also maybe look at this kit from Buschmiede.

http://www.busschmiede.de/shop/T3-WASSER-KIT-fuer-TD-80-85-Thermosch-Thermostat-80

I've just upgraded to this setup on Limey and it's brought the fan in a lot earlier... I'd only heard it twice in 4 years before now.

MG
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T3 Syncro 16 S6 Westfalia Limey SOLD
T3 Syncro 6x6 SOLD
T3 RS6 Bluestar
T3 Tristar Syncro 16 SOLD
T3 Tristar Syncro RHD SOLD

[Vanagonner]

It doesn't look like you have head studs in your block. I know some guys get along fine with stretch bolts, but having put ARP's in, I would never change a head gasket without them in there again. From what I can tell though, I probably won't have to change head gaskets again because they are in there.
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Sage
'82 Westy 1.6 D
the mighty n/a

[vwcampin]

If you need head work done, look up Frank06 on TDIClub.com. He comes highly recommended on that site and really knows his stuff. Prices are reasonable as well.
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1986 Vanagon Syncro Westfalia Weekender

[80qtdi]

I agree about the head studs and 3 hole gasket, make sure they are the arp2000 headstuds, as they are a lot stronger. That's what I put in mine and I'm sure I will never have a headgasket problem (knock on wood )

Jon
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1982 Westfalia Diesel W/ AHU TDI
K03/04 Hybrid turbo, 11mm injection pump, Audi 2.7T oil heat exchanger, .216 T4 nozzles, Speed density VWMikel tune, PD130 intake manifold, & AWIC

[MarkWard]

I would suggest removing the auxilary radiator. The stock radiator if in decent shape is plenty adequate for cooling the engine. Also, you may want to consider bead honing the block and new rings. Rings can loose there "temper" when subjected to overheat conditions. I upgraded to a later model Jetta coolant expansion tank and rethought out the engine compartment plumbing. I have an ALH, so the plumbing is a little different.

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[Williamtaylor33]

[MarkWard]

In that case, they are plumbed independent of the engine's cooling system and probably utilize an auxilary electric pump. So disregard what I said about the radiator. regards.
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[Williamtaylor33]

[MarkWard]

Yes, but you need to be very clean. Wrap the rod journals with masking tape to keep pumous from entering the crank. A flex hone or dingle berry hone works great to give you some new cross hatch. When done, you need to wash the tar out of the cylinders and the block form underneath. I use a product called formula 44, but castrol purple or even simple green works. If you don't get it completely clean, the pumous will cause the oil pressure relief valve to stick. This is not an ASE approved way to rering an engine and the dingle berry hone will not straighten worn cylinder walls, but I have had good luck doing this on economy overheat repairs. If the rings have lost there temper it will use oil like crazy. When you are done, you should be able to wipe a clean paper towel in a cylinder and not have any residue on the paper towel. Once you are at that point, spray some WD40 or wipe the cylinders with light film of oil. They will start to rust immediately if you are in a humid climate.
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[AndyBees]

Unless I missed it, if you go back with the same head, it must be milled. if it is off 0.009 (9 thousandths) it will not hold regardless of the ARP studs.

The tolerance on the MK1 (1.6 diesels) as I remember, was 0.004. Over the years, I've had several of those milled.

Last summer I had a 1.9 TDI ALH head milled for a dude.... it was milled to the max (long story that I will not get into). Anyway, 13 months later that engine has over 20k miles and so far so good. I would not have done it to my engine........ the guy did not want to spend the money!
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'84 Vanagon Tin-top, ALH TDI. 1989 Tin-top
1983 Air-cool, 225k miles, 180k miles mine. Seven trips to Alaska from 1986 thru 2003.

[Williamtaylor33]

Yes the head has been sent off to be milled.
I'm trying to decide if I should tear into the bottom end or not.

My game plan right now is to just reinstall the milled head and see where that gets me.
My concern is. What caused the overheat to begin with.
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89 Bostig powered syncro westy

[?Waldo?]

When I looked at the engine it was in the winter time at 7,000 ft. of elevation. The engine would miss and would smoke dramatically until well warmed up. The smoke was most assuredly unburned diesel and not coolant. Although not overly rattley, the timing was overly advanced as it reduced the miss and smoke somewhat. A possibility is that the head gasket blew, causing the over-heating and in turn causing the head to warp.

Because the engine does not have the smoking issue at lower altitudes or in warmer weather would lead me to conclude that using an over-sized (3-notch) gasket would be a bad idea. The drop in compression would likely result in excessive smoke and missing even at lower elevations and in warmer weather. At this point, if it were mine, I would have the head pressure tested and milled and install it with ARP studs. I would also use the *correct* head gasket based on piston protrusion. Re-ringing would also be a good idea, but as mentioned, it is very difficult to deal with the abrasives with the crank in place. At this point, I won't even take that risk on my own vehicles. I would also reset the timing to .90 or so.

[jackbombay]

On the subject of ARP headstuds, there is a huge thread on TDIclub about them 50+ pages IIRC LOL. And a lot of guys have ended up with HG leaks with them, guys that are running less boost/fuel than guys who are running the stock stretch bolts.

ARP doesn't make a stud specifically for the TDI, but the Ford Cosworth ones are dimensionally correct, but people on tdiclub theorize that the torque rating for the studs is not enough for a TDI, some guys have gone to higher torques, but its all a bit of a guess for them at this point.
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